Toronto Muslim leaders hold networking meeting

By Muneeb Nasir
OnIslam Correspondent

TORONTO – In a bid to boost cooperation in the greater Toronto area between local Canadians and the Muslim community, leaders and development workers gathered for a networking meeting on Sunday, April 12.

“This is the 5th year that we have been holding a networking meeting,” Muneeb Nasir, President of the Olive Tree Foundation, was quoted by Iqra.

“This meeting is an opportunity for us working in the non-profit sector – organizations and activists – to connect and engage with each other and look for opportunities to collaborate.”

“We have found it to be of great benefit to the Olive Tree Foundation and to all of the participants who took part in previous meetings.”

The annual meeting also provides a platform to discuss the priorities and challenges faced by non-profit groups working within the Muslim community.

This year’s meeting was held at Emmanuel College, a theological branch of Victoria University in the University of Toronto.

Aiming to learn about each other’s work, Muslims and community workers met last week at Emmanuel College, a theological college of Victoria University in the University of Toronto, to identify fields of cooperation.

Organized by the Olive Tree Foundation, a public endowment that promotes community development and funding projects for the benefit of the community.

The event included presentations and discussions by attendants highlighting the priorities and challenges faced by non-profit groups working within the Muslim community.

Several NGOs, like Faith & the Common Good (FCG), a national interfaith network, made presentations about their latest projects during the event.

“The project’s objective is to find out if faith communities are interested in taking care of the vulnerable during the next extreme weather events,” said Donna Lang, Toronto Coordinator for Greening Sacred Spaces.

Also presenting at the event, Dr. Nevin Reda, director of Master of Pastoral Studies/Master of Theological Studies, and assistant professor of Muslim studies, who added, “The Muslim Studies Program strives to meet the changing needs of the growing Muslim population in Canada.”

Muslims account for roughly 2.8 percent of Canada’s 32.8 million population and Islam is the number one non-Christian faith in the country.

A Pew Forum Report on Religion & Public Life estimates that Muslims are expected to make up 6.6% of Canada’s total population by 2030.

One in three Canadians refer to Toronto, Ontario as their home. The province also boasts the largest concentration of Muslims in Canada.

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